Mercury Spill • Hacker News Board

Re: Mercury Spill

#171

Post by marssaxman » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:38 AM UTC

chimeracoder wrote: post #75

deciplex wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if they're adjusting premiums such that they're net positive on every single account, does that mean they'll refund your money if you end the contract without ever having made a claim?

> So if they're adjusting premiums such that they're net positive on every single account, does that mean they'll refund your money if you end the contract without ever having made a claim? No, because you're paying for the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your worst-case scenario has been mitigated, on the off-chance it happens . Even if there is no disaster, you still benefited from not having to worry ab…

> No, because you're paying for the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your worst-case scenario has been mitigated, on the off-chance it happens.

The irony is that the peace of mind I end up with when dealing with insurance companies of any sort is the dead certainty that they are going to screw me over just as hard as they possibly can, should I ever actually need the service they pretend to be in the business of selling, so I'd better give them as little as I can legally get away with and expect to handle the unlikely disaster on my own.

Re: Mercury Spill

#172

Post by duaneb » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:39 AM UTC

jandrese wrote: post #137

jsprogrammer wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone drove his car into a hailstorm unprotected. That's not an act of god.

If you're in the middle of Kansas and a big hailstorm comes up there isn't much you can do. There's nowhere to hide.

Kansas has trees and overpasses; it's not completely barren. I just drove through a ridiculous rain storm in Kansas two months ago and had to do exactly this.

Re: Mercury Spill

#173

Post by tadfisher » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:40 AM UTC

ekianjo wrote: post #162

vermontdevil wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No shit. What's the point of buying insurance then? I had septic tank back flow into my basement due to a design defect that was put in PRIOR to my purchase of the house. Insurance paid up then dropped me. Second insurance doubled the premium stating I'm a high risk. I was like WTF? This was a design defect that has been fixed. It's not like I'm a slob and let the house fall apart. It's a relatively new house. What's…

> What's the point of buying insurance then Unfortunately, just like for many things, government makes it mandatory to buy insurance for many of your properties. So the scam can go on and on forever.

Which government requires insurance on a private home?

Mortgage lenders make homeowner's insurance a condition of the loan to protect their assets. I've never heard of a state requirement for homeowner's insurance.

I'm in the US, though. Might be different elsewhere.

Re: Mercury Spill

#174

Post by jessaustin » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:41 AM UTC

jandrese wrote: post #137

jsprogrammer wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone drove his car into a hailstorm unprotected. That's not an act of god.

If you're in the middle of Kansas and a big hailstorm comes up there isn't much you can do. There's nowhere to hide.

If you're driving cross-country you're on an interstate. Park under an overpass.

Re: Mercury Spill

#175

Post by duaneb » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:45 AM UTC

newjersey wrote: post #38

cjbprime wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I didn't realize that mercury spills are such a huge issue until recently. As the post mentions, the world at large didn't realize that vapors from mercury spills are toxic until recently.

Um, someone (not saying I) may or may not have played with mercury from a broken thermometer as a child. Is that person (not necessarily I) a walking health hazard? How does this work?

Short term exposure isn't much of an issue, unless you inhale or ingest it. (Simply playing with it isn't going to send out massive amounts of vapor; it's not super volatile.) The real fear is that it seeps into a hard to clean place and provides a steady stream of vapor over a long time.... basically what the OP illustrated about his house.

Previous generations had no qualms playing with it or lighting it on fire in science class. While it might not have been super healthy, we also don't have a generation of mad hatters.

Re: Mercury Spill

#176

Post by duaneb » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:46 AM UTC

prodmerc wrote: post #71

steven777400 wrote: post #26

I wonder how this kind of thing plays out for people that don't have anywhere near $50k available. I'm assuming since the company worked first and then invoiced, that the options would be either (1) sell the house and use the proceeds (assuming equity exists) to pay off the cleaning, or (2) declare bankruptcy. If the company were to require pre-payment for cleaning, then it's really just down to either (1) abandon an…

(3) clean it up with a dustpan :-D Seriously, mercury is not dangerous unless inhaled or ingested. Suit up with a cheap hazmat and gloves and clean away...

I would imagine it's the verification and figuring out where it is that's a hard problem. How would you reassure yourself you got it all, especially if it seeped through the floor?

Re: Mercury Spill

#177

Post by jessaustin » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:46 AM UTC

SteveGerencser wrote: post #62

existencebox wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll throw my hat in the ring. Recently had a car totaled when getting it shipped cross country. Apparently because it was an "Act of god" (a hailstorm, with what looks like fist-sized-rock-hail in that every piece of glass and most trim on the car had holes in it, although I'd argue the insurance was for the idiot driver who didn't pull over or cover his load.) the insurance company refused to do squat. The car was…

We went through a very similar experience when our car was being transported half way across the country. They driver somehow managed to roll his trailer on a freeway curve (his claim was high winds). His insurance company tried to claim act of god because "the wind did it". I'm still trying to figure out how the wind pushes over an open trailer with 2 sports cars on it. At least mine was 4 or 5 years old at the time…

Wow this thread has confirmed what I always suspected: shipping a car is a bad idea. I have actually pulled a car behind a U-haul through multiple states, but that was me, and I know how to pull trailers. A friend of mine in Hawaii was all set to ship his car from the mainland until I pointed out how little sense the math made.

Re: Mercury Spill

#178

Post by duaneb » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:48 AM UTC

unclebucknasty wrote: post #104

ubernostrum wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty happy with my (mutual) auto coverage. In fact, right now I'm getting around on a rental car courtesy of my policy, while my car is being repaired; I'll be out of pocket about $250 total for around $2000 worth of damage to the car (tl;dr -- driving home a few nights back, didn't see a traffic cone that had rolled out into my lane and ran over it at 50mph, which is not good for some of the things on the unde…

You sure they won't claw back that claim in the form of raised premiums?

Doesn't that make sense? Insurance is to cover immediate problems, but the risk given the driver increases with each claim (I'm assuming, that just makes sense to me). So, premiums should reflect this.

Re: Mercury Spill

#179

Post by duaneb » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:52 AM UTC

Terr_ wrote: post #35

DanBlake wrote: post #22

wow. I remember as a kid ~20 years ago playing with mercury (my grandfather was a dentist and had a 1lb bottle of the stuff for some reason) I think if I found mercury in my house I would literally just scoop it up and bring it to the fire department without thinking about any health hazards of it. Is mercury truely that bad that short exposure is that dangerous? I mean, I wouldnt eat the stuff (or breath it in for e…

IIRC one time touching cold liquid elemental mercury isn't that bad, the short-term problem is breathing mercury fumes or encountering various compounds that it can react to form. Any sort of persistent chronic exposure is definitely bad, of course, since like most "heavy metals" it accumulates and has long-term effects.

If it's just a one time thing, the body is actually pretty decent at flushing mercury. But the rate of intake needs to be (much) lower to avoid sustained damage.

Re: Mercury Spill

#180

Post by jessaustin » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:54 AM UTC

dhbanes wrote: post #143

ghshephard wrote: post #130

I once had a ceiling leak of water from my upstairs neighbor. I called a contractor, and he broke open a segment of the ceiling where my vent was - and the entire gap between my unit and upstairs looked like something from Venus - terrifying colors/growths taking place. The contractor said that there was a massive mold infusion, and that we would need a hazardous material team to come clean it up, and we were looking…

Wait, so the property management company (which would be responsible for facilitating the mold remediation at the very least, or paying for it if they own the property or were liable for the issue in the first place) told you that mold was no big deal and your upstairs neighbors just need to caulk a little more around their bath tub (also the responsibility of the property owner) and that calmed you down? Mold and fu…

From the context it seems likely that GP owns a condo, so bills like that would not be sent to property management. Also if anyone has an interest to lie it is mold remediation contractors whose entire business is built on exaggeration.